Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Northwest UU Justice Network Summit at BUF!

On October 9th and 10th, the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship will be hosting and co-sponsoring the 5th Annual Northwest UU Justice Summit. This is a regional gathering of UUs and other justice-oriented folks, reviewing and tackling the social and environmental issues of our time.

There are two components to this year's Summit:
· a Pre-Event on Friday evening October 9th related to supporting the Northwest Tribes, and
· an all-day, multi-issue Justice Summit on Saturday, October 10th.

Each event has its own registration process, so be sure to note the registration websites and be sure to register for both events (or one or the other) that you plan to attend.

Background: This past June, Pacific Northwest District delegates voted on behalf of all UUs in the Pacific Northwest to have the PNWD board sign “A Public Declaration to the Tribal Councils and Traditional Spiritual Leaders of the Native Peoples of the Northwest" and to become one of many other faith communities making a commitment to our First Nations' struggle to protect Lands and Waters sacred not only to them, but to us as well.

Program: This will involve two presentations and a work-session on this document, with guest speaker Lummi Elder Jewell James who is named on it. This pre-event is for those of the UU and other faith communities who want to pursue making this Declaration to the NW Tribes a living document. We will hear from Elder James on the history of this document and his vision for it. We will also hear from Jessie Dye from Earth Ministry (Washington's chapter of Interfaith Power and Light) whose organization was instrumental in getting many of the other signatories including: the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Church of Christ, Sisters of Providence, Pacific Northwest & Alaska Conferences of the United Methodist Church, Northwest Regional Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches, the Episcopal Dioceses of Olympia and of Spokane, and the Northwest Washington, the Eastern Washington-Idaho and the Southwestern Washington Synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

This year's theme is Allied for Justice. In the morning, we'll listen to TED-style talks from representatives of Lummi Nation and from Community to Community. They will brief us on their powerful work on issues ranging from national sovereignty to food sovereignty, from preserving our sacred lands and planet to preserving our democracy.

During afternoon breakout sessions, attendees with particular issues of concern (or participants looking for their next issue!) will gather in issue-oriented groups. Throughout the day, we will discover new resources, forge relationships and collaborate to create positive change. Many will exchange email addresses or decide to convene new or expanded issue-support groups.

Last year, 26 congregations sent participants to the Summit, with 119 registrants coming from three states. Will you be among them this year? Will we be international this year?! How might that give more power to our work?